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Customer acquisition costs currently account for about 10 percent of overall residential solar costs -- but this category has the most near-term potential for cost reductions of any component of system costs, according to the latest report by GTM Research, U.S. Residential Solar PV Customer Acquisition: Strategies, Costs and Vendors. Solar installers should look to lowering customer acquisition costs in order to increase their bottom line. At today's average cost and conversion rate, the solar industry would spend over $1 billion and require 3.9 million leads to achieve the forecasted 362,000 residential installations in 2016 alone. GTM Research expects the industry to save $619 million on customer acquisition costs between 2014 and 2017 relative to what would have been spent at today's cost of $0.49 per watt. The report outlines the mergers and acquisitions shaping the ma...